of the Cotton Trade. 137 
publication of the above letter. The author of it, Mr. 
Wyatt, was so obliging as, to, send me a specimen of yarn 
spun about the year 1741 by a machine invented and erected 
by the late Mr. J. Wyatt of Birmingham, as well as a 
memorandum book of his, containing calculations on the 
twisting and other processes relating to yarn. 
From examining the yarn I think it would not be said by 
competent judges that it, was spun by a similar machine to 
that of Mr. Arkwright; for, the fabric or thread is very 
different from the early productions of Mr. Arkwright, and 
is, I think, evidently spun by a different machine, the in- 
genuity of which we can not appreciate, as the model men- 
tioned in the paper alluded to is unfortunately lost. 
With respect to originality of invention, it always has 
been and always will be difficult to give decided proof. 
Two persons may invent machiues, acting upon very 
different principles, the design of which is to produce 
the same effect. But the circumstances of time and place 
contribute no little to give an extraordinary stimulus to 
genius and a perseverance to overcome those obstacles 
which are in the way of a first effort to obtain some desi- 
rable object. Had Mr. Wyatt’s machine been introduced 
into Lancashire or Nottinghamshire, where the product of a 
spinning machine was so urgently wanted, it is very pro- 
bable that with his own ingenuity and the exertions of those 
wanting the thread, a Spinning Machine might have been 
introduced into general use at a much earlier period than 
that of Mr. Arkwright’s. Yet taking all the circumstances 
together, and the lapse of nearly 30 years, it is probable 
Mr. Arkwright derived little more from Mr, Wyatt’s or 
Mr. Paul’s inventions than the knowledge that machines 
for such purposes had been invented, and might think there 
was opened a fair field for the exercise of his talents in the 
extension and improvement of the principle. 
VOL. III. Ss 
